Baseball-Highlights of Sunday's MLB games

Sept 11 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Sunday's Major League Baseball games. Rays 4, Yankees 2 Corey Dickerson hit one of three home runs for the Tampa Bay Rays, who ended a season-high seven-game winning streak by the New York Yankees with a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon. The Rays handed New York its first loss since Sept. 3 by upping its home run total to 194, five shy of the 2009 team record. Logan Forsythe and Brad Miller also homered for Tampa Bay, which won for the second time in eight games. Chase Headley homered and Brett Gardner had an RBI single for the Yankees, who were denied their first eight-game winning streak since a 10-game run June 8-18, 2012. Nationals 3, Phillies 2 Anthony Rendon broke a tie with an RBI double in the seventh and Gio Gonzalez allowed just one run in seven innings as first-place Washington posted a victory over Philadelphia. The Nationals, who took three of four from the Phillies, started the day nine games ahead of the second-place New York Mets in the National League East. The Phillies are 5-14 against Washington this year. Mets 10, Braves 3 Yoenis Cespedes clubbed his 30th home run, a long grand slam, and drove in five runs, to help New York beat Atlanta in their final appearance at Turner Field. The beneficiary of the support was right-hander Seth Lugo, who won his fourth straight start. Lugo avoided major difficulty in the fourth inning when he got out of a bases-loaded mess with only one run scoring. He pitched seven innings and allowed two runs on six hits, one walk and five strikeouts in his first career appearance against Atlanta. Orioles 3, Tigers 1 Chris Tillman threw six strong innings in his return from the disabled list and Michael Bourn added a two-run home run to lead Baltimore over Detroit in the rubber match of a crucial three-game series at Comerica Park. The Orioles entered Detroit on Friday a game ahead of the Tigers for the final wild-card spot in the American League. They left two games up after winning the final two contests of the series. After going on the disabled list for shoulder bursitis, Tillman outdueled Tigers ace Justin Verlander on the latter's home turf, allowing just one run on four hits in six innings to earn the victory. Reds 8, Pirates 0 Four Cincinnati pitchers combined on a seven-hit shutout and Tyler Holt drove in three runs in a win vs. Pittsburgh at PNC Park. The Reds, far out of the playoff chase, scored five runs in the second and never looked back. They won three of the four games in the weekend series against Pittsburgh, which fell 6 1/2 games behind a National League wild-card spot. The Pirates have lost three in a row and 11 of their past 13. The win was the 200th of Cincinnati manager Bryan Price's career. Brewers 2, Cardinals 1 Ryan Braun slammed his 27th homer of the year with one out in the ninth inning to give Milwaukee the win over St. Louis. Braun's homer, his first this season against the Cardinals, came on a 3-2 pitch off reliever Kevin Siegrist after the Cardinals had tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. The loss, combined with the Mets' win over the Braves, dropped the Cardinals out of the second wild-card spot, a half-game behind New York. Red Sox 11, Blue Jays 8 David Ortiz hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to provide the go-ahead runs as Boston came back to defeat Toronto in the rubber match of a three-game series. Ortiz's homer against reliever Joaquin Benoit brought the Red Sox from behind into a 10-8 lead as they extended their advantage over the Blue Jays in the American League East to two games. Jackie Bradley Jr. also hit a three-run homer for the Red Sox and Hanley Ramirez added a solo shot. Troy Tulowitzki hit a grand slam and Edwin Encarnacion added two homers for the Blue Jays. Mariners 3, Athletics 2 Mike Zunino hit a two-run homer in the second inning and sparked a ninth-inning rally with a leadoff double, leading Seattle to its fifth straight victory. The Mariners remained 3 1/2 games back in the race for the American League's second wild-card spot. They swept the A's in Oakland for a second time this season, a franchise first. The Mariners snapped a 2-2 tie with a run in the top of the ninth inning off A's closer Ryan Madson (5-5). Zunino lined a leadoff double down the left-field line and then gave way to pinch running Ben Gamel. Gamel moved to third on Leonys Martin's single to right and scored when Ketel Marte singled sharply to center. Angels 3, Rangers 2 Andrelton Simmons hit two solo home runs to lead Los Angeles over Texas. Yunel Escobar added a solo homer as the Angels broke a four-game losing streak and prevented the Rangers from reducing their magic number for winning the American League West to less than 10. Right-hander Jered Weaver amassed a season-high eight strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings while earning his third successive victory. Adrian Beltre hit two solo blasts for Texas and now has 442 career homers, tying Dave Kingman for 40th place all-time. Beltre added a single and finished 3-for-4. Royals 2, White Sox 0 Ian Kennedy pitched six strong innings and Kendrys Morales and Eric Hosmer each belted a solo homer as Kansas City held on for a win over Chicago. The Royals won its second consecutive series and finished a six-game road trip with a 4-2 record. Adam Eaton singled twice to mark the only two hits for the White Sox. Chicago dropped to 4-11 this season against the Royals. Marlins 3, Dodgers 0 Jose Urena pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings to lead Miami over Los Angeles at Marlins Park. Urena, who threw 108 pitches, was lifted after Josh Reddick slapped a two-out, opposite-field single in the ninth. A.J. Ramos got the final out on the only batter he faced for his 34th save of the season. The Marlins, who have been projected to have just a 0.8 percent chance to make the playoffs this year, took two out of three games from the Dodgers, who lead the NL West. Indians 7, Twins 1 Corey Kluber continued his strong second-half run with seven effective innings and Carlos Santana hit a three-run home run to lead Cleveland over Minnesota. Kluber topped 200 strikeouts for the third straight season in striking out 10 Twins hitters. Santana's 31st homer of the season went deep into the right field plaza at Target Field to open the scoring in the second inning off Minnesota rookie starter Jose Berrios. Abraham Almonte added three hits and two runs scored for the Indians, who won for the fourth time in five games and extended their lead in the American League Central to seven games over Detroit. Giants 5, Diamondbacks 3 Denard Span homered, and Hunter Pence added a two-run double to help San Francisco beat Arizona and complete a three-game sweep. Matt Moore (3-4) threw seven strong innings for the Giants, allowing two runs while scattering eight hits. Moore struck out 11, matching a season high, and walked one. Welington Castillo homered for the Diamondbacks, who have dropped six straight and seven of their past nine. Rockies 3, Padres 2 (10 innings) Mark Reynolds led off the top of the 10th inning with the 250th homer of his career to give Colorado a split of the four-game series with San Diego. Reynolds' 370-foot drive off Kevin Quackenbush (7-6) reached the second row of seats in left. His 13th homer of the season came on a 2-2 pitch. Jake McGee (2-3) picked up the win for the Rockies. Adam Ottavino secured his fourth save on the season and his second of the series. Cubs 9, Astros 5 Addison Russell and Javier Baez produced multi-hit games, and Chicago claimed the rubber match of an interleague series against Houston. Russell finished 3-for-4 with three runs plus his 20th home run, while Baez went 2-for-4 with an RBI in support of right-hander Jake Arrieta (17-6). Arrieta allowed three runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. (Editing by Simon Jennings)